By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-25 19:42:22 | Updated at 2026-06-25 20:49:20
1 hour ago
A former youth pastor who killed himself in jail three days after being charged over his wife's murder was shunned by a teenage girl he had been grooming on the night before the killing, prosecutors say.
David Vander Meer, 49, hanged himself at Las Vegas's Clark County Detention Center on Thursday, ahead of a planned extradition to Utah to face murder charges over his wife Bernadette's death at Zion National Park.
He was charged with Bernadette's death on Monday, with an affidavit offering both sexual and financial motives for the victim's killing.
Prosecutors said they received a tip from a previous member of his youth group who alleged Vander Meer had been grooming several children at his ministry.
They said one of the children, identified as 'SH' in the document, had been in a four-year sexual relationship with Vander Meer from the age of 16, but called it off on August 20, 2006, because she 'felt it was wrong.'
The very next day, Vander Meer took Bernadette on an anniversary trip to Zion National Park, where he allegedly pushed her to her death from the edge of a cliff. SH later got back together with Vander Meer and married him in 2008.
Prosecutors added that they discovered Vander Meer had raised he and his wife's life insurance policies from $150,000 to $600,000 before the trip.
Vander Meer initially told investigators that he was turned away from the cliff when his wife accidentally fell, and although her death was initially ruled an accident, 'investigators felt the circumstances were suspicious', the affidavit said.
David Vander Meer, 49, a former youth pastor in Las Vegas, took his own life this week after being charged over the 2006 death of his wife, who fell from a cliff at Zion National Park
Vander Meer's wife Bernadette, 28, fell from a cliff at the national park on their anniversary trip, and her death was initially ruled an accident even as investigators say they believed the 'circumstances were suspicious'
Vander Meer claimed his wife fell around 4am on a sunrise hike, but prosecutors allege he pushed her after being dumped by his girlfriend who he began grooming age 16
Prosecutors said that when SH was interviewed following Bernadette's death, she told them that she had recently broken up with the youth pastor, but said 'the only thing she knew about Bernadette's passing was what David told the youth group.'
The initial tip came in April 2022, but prosecutors said the case was closed and not followed up on at the time, until a second suspicious tip came in October 2025.
In that second tip, Vander Meer's former boss at his church, Barry Diamond, told investigators that he had reason to believe 'David pushed Bernadette' and that the death was 'not an accident.'
An investigator said when they followed up on Diamond's tip and conducted more interviews, they discovered that Vander Meer had 'inappropriate relationships' with a number of youth group members, including SH.
In an interview with SH, she said that Vander Meer began paying 'special attention' to her when she was aged 14, including buying her gifts and escalating 'physical affection' like hugging her and touching her knee.
She said their relationship became sexual when she was 16 - the age of consent in Nevada, where they both lived. SH said Vander Meer took her virginity at his father's cabin. He was approximately 25 at the time, the affidavit noted.
She said this developed into them having sex 'every time they met up', including in his church when it was closed, and at pay-by-the-hour motels.
SH said that while David did not promise her a future together, he once made a sinister remark that the 'only way they could be together is if Bernadette was not alive,' the affidavit said.
She said the relationship became controlling, and when she finally told him to leave her alone in August 2006 because it felt 'wrong', he promptly took his wife for a trip to Zion National Park.
Vander Meer allegedly had 'inappropriate relationships' with a number of youth group members, including a sexual relationship with a girl starting when she was just 16
Vander Meer, 49, took his own life at Las Vegas's Clark County Detention Center on Thursday, ahead of a planned extradition to Utah to face murder charges over his wife Bernadette's death
Prosecutors say Vander Meer pushed his wife off a cliff after telling his underage girlfriend 'the 'only way they could be together is if Bernadette was not alive'
On the trip, Vander Meer claimed he and Bernadette went on a 4am hike to watch the sunrise, and took off their backpacks when they reached a cliff edge to take pictures.
He claimed that when he moved the backpacks out of the frame to take a picture of Bernadette, he bent over to retrieve his camera and heard her 'scream' and fall over the edge.
Three months after the tragedy, SH said she and Vander Meer restarted their relationship, and they eventually got legally married in 2008.
She said the main reason for this marriage was because he had been fired from his pastor job for providing alcohol to minors, and their marriage meant he could be on her health insurance.
Their marriage broke down, she said, due to his refusal to speak about sexually abusing her as a minor, and she later found condoms and hotel receipts that indicated he had an affair.
They divorced in 2014.
